Another first!

Well, you know, I'm still trying to do 40 new things for my 40th year. Yesterday I added a new item to my list. Although I'm not sure how many things are on the list at this point. I don't think I've hit 10 yet. I better get with it!

I have never just made up a recipe before. I'm talking the whole thing! It was kinda exciting and empowering. For just a little bit I felt like Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, The Pioneer Woman, and my friend Sarah(who probably cooks better than all the others!).

I got home late from work and didn't have a whole lot of time. I usually cook supper at my folks house since my mom works down in the City and gets home kinda late. I was struggling to find something to fix. Mom had fixed a big ol' bag of noodles the other night and they were still in the fridge. I browned some ground beef with a chopped onion then added some Italion Seasonings, ground garlic, and black pepper. It smelled pretty good at this point. Then I added a can of diced tomatoes(drained) and a can of tomatoe sauce and let it kinda cook for a little bit. I then added some heavy cream and let it cook for a while longer. I put the noodles in a 9 x 13 dish and poured the saucy stuff over it and stirred it all up. Put it in a hot oven covered for awhile til mom got home with some Mozarella. I pulled it out of the oven, added the cheese, then put it back in uncovered for a little bit til it melted. It was Yummy!!! My dad even liked it and he's pretty picky! Mom said it was kinda like Hamburger Helper which we never at when I was growing up so I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not, but she said she liked it.

When my dad said he liked it I told him he could thank The Pioneer Woman. He said, "Do I have to?" What I meant was that since I've been looking at her cooking blog and cookbook I've been a little more open to trying something a little different and new. Maybe a little more aggressive cook. I've always been a cook who had to have the recipe right in front of me and pretty much follow it to a tee! Now, it wasn't exactly the most healthy meal we've ever eaten, but it was low in sodium for my dad! That's huge!!! I think next time I'll try it with some penne pasta. That would be great!

So, what can I call this? Any ideas???? Homemade Hamburger Helper is not an options by the way! I only need to come up with something so that when my dad says, "Hey can you fix that noodle thing" we can actually call it something nice.

"Okie Woman"

Oh my lands! Karin I love that poem!! Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us and thinking of me.

That's exactly how I feel about this place. It's crazy, I know, and I'm not saying I couldn't ever live anywhere else. But this is home for me and always will be. I love so many things about it. Sometimes it's the very things that drive me bananas! You know, things like the wind which is whippin today like crazy. However, sometimes without the wind we'd never dry out!

Our "friends" across the Red River think their state is the best at everything. It's an ok place, but our state is pretty good too. It might be 1/4 the size, but sometimes big is just big, not necessarily better!

A Bare Minerals Makeover

My dear friend Sage has signed us up for a makeover at the Bare Escentuals store in OKC. It will be Sage, Tera, Anna, and myself heading down there Sunday afternoon. I think Sarah must have more sense than the rest of us because she isn't going!!

I have to tell you that I can't wait!!! Mostly because I'm gonna get to spend some time with my friends who I rarely get to see these days even though we only live about 6 miles(as the crow flies) apart. None of us grew up wearing make-up. This is all new to us. So we like this brand for the following reasons:

It's easy!
It looks very natural!
and.....
It's kinda like a cult!

I'm not kidding! Once you get to using this stuff you just want more. I love it.

And here's what I really hope from our outing on Sunday afternoon. I really, really hope we get to go to The Cheesecake Factory!!!

I love that place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Little Joe and Family visit

It seems like ages since New Year's and the whole family was here for our holiday together. Sis #4 and family are here this weekend for a visit. How can a 5 year old grow so much in so little time? Little Joe is so much taller than he was a few weeks ago!!! I couldn't hardly believe it. He's always had allergy problems and it's giving him fits right now.



This trip they are staying up at our folks house since no one else is here visiting. Little Joe wanted to come to my house and stay last night. Great! We trekked down there about 9:30, did his breathing treatment, and read "Ernest and Twist" (love that book!). He didn't want to stay in the kids' room since his mom and dad weren't in the guest room next door I guess. So he bunked with me. No big deal except he wakes up coughing several times and the dog keeps barking outside so I have to let her in. That wasn't Little Joe's fault. Then about 5:45am he wakes up telling me he's hungry. I think my response might have been, "Are you kidding me?"

I kept putting him off on the hungry thing, but all of a sudden he says my ear hurts. I got the flashlight and looked at it. I don't see anything. Every little bit he said it hurt. So we finally got up and went to the living room. I got him so goldfish and a drink. Then the ear thing got worse. He said when he swallowed it hurt. I thought maybe a warm wet cloth would help. It did for a little bit, but then the hurting kept up. He started crying and about 7 I said let's go. I got his stuff on him and I pulled on my coat and stocking cap(over my flannel pj's and robe, NOT PRETTY) and we jumped in the truck to go up to MaMaw and Papa's.

Papa was sitting at the table eating his breakfast when we walked in. I guess everyone heard up pull up and come in the door. Joe's dad came out of the room and started to take him in with him. I told him what was goin on. My dad, that would be Papa, said "It's a little early for you to be goin to work isn't it?" I stepped around the chair and said, "Do I look like I'm ready for work?" He kinda chuckled and said he couldn't see below my coat where I was before. Everyone had a little laugh at my scary looking get up. Then my dad chimes in,"You should get a picture of that outfit and put it on your blog." I don't think so!!!

It was determined that Little Joe had an ear infection. They gave him some tylenol and it wasn't hurting so bad after that. They started making phone calls to get him into a clinic this morning. Turns out he didn't really have an ear infection yet, but he need more meds for his asthma and a little ear cleaning. I won't go into details there.

After that I left the folks house and went back down to my place to get ready for work. I was just about to go up the back door steps when I heard a laugh coming from the direction of my Aunt and Uncle's house. Uncle happened to be out on his back porch and saw me. I guess he thought my outfit was funny too. I didn't really think too much about it when the kid was crying and I was just pulling stuff on to get him out.

Thing is, they've all seen me like that before. I don't know why it's so surprising!!! But don't think I'm ever gonna post a pic like that on here!!!!!!!!!!

A day with Ruby

I have a new job. It's just temporary, but I think I'm gonna like it!



I will be watching Ruby on Tuesday's til my bro and sis-in-law find a regular sitter. Yesterday was my first day. I haven't really gotten to spend much time with her the first 5 weeks of her life, so I wasn't positive how she would take to me. Thankfully, she's been held by a lot of different people and probably thinks we are all the same one and didn't seem to mind.
She started crying while her parents were getting ready to leave. She was very tired and fights going to sleep like crazy. By the time they left she was ready to eat and take a nap.

We had a great day! No major problems. Just the normal eat, sleep, change diaper, etc. She's so sweet!! I'm sure all aunt's think this of their newest niece.

I'm still coming to grips with the fact that my brother is a dad. For some reason this is harder than my sister's being mom's! Maybe it's because he's the youngest. Or maybe it's cause he looks like Howdy Doody. Or maybe it's just because I'd conviced myself it wasn't ever gonna happen to them. Anyway, when I see them with her I'm so happy for them, and for all of us!

And then I get to go home and get a good nights sleep! I love being an AUNT!!!!!!

I'm a Copy Cat!

On Pdub's blog yesterday she listed things that she loves. The list was very entertaining and diverse. Not that my list will be entertaining to anyone, here it is anyway.

Sunshine

Rain

Green grass

Babies

Family

Good Friends

Milk Chocolate

George Strait music

Hooded Sweatshirts

Tall mud boots

Dublin Dr. Pepper

Sonic Dr. Pepper

Any Dr. Pepper

Crushed Ice

Jokes told by a 3 year old

Fat Jeans

My dog

Pride and Prejudice

John Wayne movies

Gerbera Daisies

Cactus

Apple Pie

What's some thing's you love????

Valentine's Day

Let's just say that I'm not a fan of this holiday. I really should work in a flower shop because I don't give a rip about having the day off!! Actually, I did work in a flower shop a couple years at V-Day and I loved it!!! There's something about stripping thousands of roses of their thorns that made it all better for me.

Anyway, I don't want to sound like I've had a bad experience here, so I'll just say this. Having nephews and nieces make Valentine's Day have a whole new meaning for me. It doesn't have to be a day about a "couple". It should be a day to think of all the one's we love. Whether it's family, friends, or a sweetheart.

Those kids mean the world to me and I can't wait to see them all this weekend!! Sis#2 is coming over with her little herd. It will be the first time she gets to see Ruby. Ruby and her parents are coming over tonight so they can all meet up. As much as Woody and Buzz love their brother Snort, I think they'll be crazy about Ruby. There's just something about a little redheaded baby girl that's special. Well, special to me anyway!!!

So, have a lovely Valentine's Day everyone. I mean it, really I do!!!!

A Night with Friends

Apparantly I'm not just a Jane Austen junkie. Last evening I went over to my friends house for supper. These would be the same friends I went to Colorado with for my birthday last fall. The whole clan was there, which is a lot of them.

We had some yummy enchiladas. We had a chocolate/cherry dessert that was unbelievably tasty!

And then we searched Netflix for something to watch. They had told me about this BBC series called "North and South" they'd watched a few months ago. Course, I had a flash of the miniseries "The North and the South" with the wicked "Virgilia" which debuted when I was in jr. high or maybe high school. That one isn't so family friendly. We finally settled on the BBC version. 4 hours later we had finished the whole thing. I Loved it!!!!!!!

It was full of heartbreak and sadness, but still had a sense of hope that all would be ok. The lead character, Miss Margaret Hale, was a very kind but strong minded woman who we could all take a lesson or two from on how to behave. At least in my opinion.

I recommend it to all of you!

And thank you so much for the great evening, Friends!!!

Jane Austen Addict!

I know that most of you know this, but I'm a bit of a Jane Austen freak. Not that I've read all the books, because I've only read 2. How sad is that??? But I love the movies. I can't get enough! Every time there's a new version of "Emma" or "Sense and Sensibility" I have to see it.

One would never think this of me if they saw me in my everyday life. You know, the mud boots, stocking cap, bandanna on my face look I'm always sporting this time of year.

I think it has something to do with the fascination of the plight of women at the time in England. Actually, I'm always shocked by the treatment of women in the past. I guess it's not really the treatment but the sheer lack of rights at all. I'm talking if you were a poor chick, like me, you were slap outta luck unless you found a wealthy husband!!! What's up with that???

And when I stop and think that things have changed a lot in the last 150 or so years, they really haven't. Let's face facts girls, it's a man's world! I really don't mind this as much as all of you think I do. And I'm afraid that we've done it to ourselves. Well, not necessarily "we" who are reading this, but our gender as a whole. The "liberated women" of our world haven't really helped our plight.

Do I think we should get the same pay as a man? Only if we can do the same job.

Do I think we should have the opportunity to try to do the same job? Absolutely!

Are there jobs women shouldn't try to do? Definitely!

Should women get taken advantage of when we go to a mechanic to get the truck worked on? NEVER!

Wow, where did all that come from??????

I think Miss Jane Austen would feel the same way if she were here today! Don't you?

Slick Mud

Did you know there are different types of mud? I don't know if this happens with all mud, but our red dirt around here has a personality all it's own!

We've had so much rain and snow here in the last couple months I'm not sure when we'll dry out. Thankfully, some smart person invented tall mud boots and 4 wheel drive pick-ups! When we were growing up we didn't have a 4 wheel drive's. Now we won't buy a truck without it. We spent plenty of time digging out in the old days. Sis #2 and I got so tired of getting in trouble for getting stuck we wouldn't get dad to come pull us out with the tractor unless it was absolutely a last resort. So, we got pretty good at getting around in the mud. I'm saying all this so you'll believe me when I tell you there are different stages in the drying out process.

First, when it's just finished raining or snow is first melting there's the "slick" stage. And I'm talking you think you've just stepped on ice slick! If you catch a rut or have to go down a little hill it could be a painful experience. Also, this is when there's the most "splashing" going on. When there's some horses trotting up close to get some hay it's gonna get messy!

Second, once the sun's out and it's trying to dry there's the "sticky" stage. This would be the time when strong legs are what a girl wants. I've been stuck more than once. I've had my boot come off more than once. Neither is good. You never want to be stuck with hungry horses around you and you've got an armload of hay.

I realize this isn't a scientific. It's just an observation from a girl who's been in the mud a little bit in her lifetime.

We were just getting past the completely sticky stage today until it starting drizzling this afternoon. We wound up back to slick in no time.

Maybe by July we'll dry out! Meanwhile, I'll keep my mud boots handy and my truck fueled up!!!

Snow Days with Hoss

I spent the last 4 days with Hoss. I went and picked him up in town on Thursday when we knew the weather was getting bad. He gets way restless and it would be easier on Sis#3 with only 2 restless kids instead of 3.

He was so excited that he was coming out. We ate pizza, played Go Fish, did homework, and played in the snow some. He has this fascination with icicles. That's probably just a kid thing, but I haven't been one in so long I don't remember(right, Sage?).

Hoss is very much like me in that he's the oldest and kinda bossy. However, when we were walking up to Mamaw and Papa's house this morning I had a little flashback from 30 years ago when we'd be running down the driveway while the bus driver was honking and sis#3 would be lolligagging. Hoss was way, way behind me kicking the snow. I had to holler at him to hurry it up I was running late for work. He finally started moving.

My uncle said he remembers one Sunday morning he happened to be riding into worship services with us. All was in the truck except sis#3. She finally comes out of the house and as she's walking by she leans over and smells the Lavender blossoms. He says we all freaked out. I don't remember this at all. Probably because it happened so much I couldn't keep it all in my memory bank.

Now I can see that it's one things that makes her so special. Sis #3 can turn something plain into something beautiful in no time. Whether it's decorating cakes or flower arranging or supper, it's always gonna be great!

Anyway, Hoss went home today. I think this will be one of those special things we talk about when he's grown and I'm really, really old!!!!